Mahadev betting app case: Who is Ravi Uppal, the app's founder arrested in Dubai?

The Mahadev Online Betting application is an umbrella syndicate arranging online platforms for enabling illegal betting websites.

A group of individuals from diverse backgrounds are involved in the web of the app that is currently under the scanner of probe agencies.

In the latest development, Ravi Uppal, one of the two founders of the betting app, has been arrested in Dubai by the local police on the basis of a Red Corner Notice issued by the Interpol at the behest of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), official sources said Wednesday.

He was detained last week and the ED authorities are in touch with the Dubai authorities to get him deported to India, reported PTI.

Here’s all we know about him.

Who is Ravi Uppal?

Since the investigation began, the ED has focused its investigation on the founders of the app – Sourabh Chandrakar, 28, and Ravi Uppal, 43, both hailed from Chhattisgarh’s Bhilai and were evading authorities in Dubai.

Before his involvement in betting that lasted for over a decade, Uppal, who comes from an upper-middle-class family, took up borewell contracts and an oil-related business.

According to The Financial Express, the two founders crossed paths at a pan stall, where they bonded over tea and cricket scores.

Uppal’s cricket bookies network extended across states, from Madhya Pradesh’s Katni to Chhattisgarh’s Bilaspur, Raipur, Bhatapara, and Dhamtari.

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He used to visit Bhilai regularly to reconnect with local friends and introduce Chandrakar to his network. This was a crucial step to start a business.

Around 2017-18, the two commenced work on the online app.

As per the report, they sought guidance from the creators of a Hyderabad-based app before enlisting software engineers to establish their platform.

Chandrakar and Uppal had already begun their operations in Dubai before the COVID-19 pandemic.

In his hometown, the Uppal family’s bungalow now stands vacant.

His role in the case

The probe agency filed a filed money laundering charge sheet against Uppal and Chandrakar, before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Chhattisgarh’s Raipur in October.

Uppal, the ED said in the prosecution complaint, “generated and enjoyed proceeds of crime and is involved in their concealment and layering.”

It had alleged Uppal was “looking after the delivery of the liasioning money to the bureaucrats and politicians of Chhattisgarh through Chandrabhushan Verma”, an assistant sub inspector of police, and some others.

During his interrogation, close aides Anil Damani told the police that he and his brother Sunil Damani had done transactions worth ₹ 60 to 65 crore through hawala channels in the past two-three years at the behest of Uppal.

The projected proceeds of crime in this case is about ₹ 6,000 crore, as per the ED.

The agency had informed the court in the charge sheet that Uppal has taken a passport of Vanuatu, an island country in the Pacific Ocean, even as he has not renounced Indian citizenship.

Uppal and Chandrakar have denied their involvement with the app or the betting syndicate and said that these were run by one Shubham Soni, who is also based in Dubai.

How the app worked

Mahadev Online Book App is operated from a central head office in the UAE.

It operates by franchising “Panel/Branches” to their known associates on 70-30 per cent profit ratio, according to PTI.

Large scale hawala operations are done to siphon off the proceeds of betting to off-shore accounts, it had said.

Large expenditure in cash is also being done in India for advertising of betting websites to attract new users and franchise (panel) seekers, the ED had said.

Several Bollywood actors and other celebs, including Ranbir Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor and Kapil Sharma, have been summoned by the ED for either appearing in ads for the app or performing at Chandrakar’s extravagant wedding in Dubai.

The investigation suggests call centres were also operated in India, Malaysia, Thailand and the UAE. At least 30 call centres were run over India, including in Chhattisgarh.

The apps also witnessed transactions worth thousands of crores and their daily profit was up to nearly ₹ 200 crore a day.

ED officials said Chandrakar and Uppal also had links with the police, bureaucrats and politicians. They made regular payments to ensure that the app stayed off the radar of probe agencies.

In November ahead of the first phase of Chhattisgarh assembly elections, the agency had claimed forensic analysis and statement made by a ‘cash courier’ named Asim Das have led to “startling allegations” that Mahadev betting app promoters paid about ₹ 508 crore to former Chhattisgarh chief minister and senior Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel so far.

The agency stated that the allegations were “subject matter of investigation.”

Das had later submitted before the special court that he had been framed as part of a conspiracy and he had never delivered cash to politicians.

The ED has, so far, arrested six people in the case – Sunil Damani, Anil Damani, Chhattisgarh Assistant sub-inspector Chandrabhushan Verma, a constable and Satish Chandrakar.